In the 1983 movie, "War Games," a computer whiz-kid
inadvertently set in motion a global thermonuclear war scenario when he
hacked into a Department of Defense supercomputer.

To the computer, this "war" was nothing more than a game,
and firing a nuclear missile at the Soviet Union was the same as moving
a pawn across a chessboard.

In real life, though, the thought of nuclear missiles being fired
at the U.S. is anything but entertaining--and it's one the Air
Force takes very seriously.

The service hasn't entrusted its missile warning and defense
capabilities to the whims of a supercomputer--it enlists the help of
several radar sites scattered across the globe and numerous satellites
orbiting high above the Earth to protect the nation from just such an
attack. While the Cold War may be over, the threat of a missile attack
is no less serious today than it was 30 years ago. Because of this,
these radars and satellites, and the Airmen who run them, work around
the clock as the nation's front lines for missile warning and
defense.

The heart of the nation's missile warning capabilities, the
Pave Phased Array Warning System, or Pave PAWS, has been monitoring the
skies surrounding North America since the early 1980s. The system's
main purpose is to detect and track both intercontinental and
sea-launched ballistic missiles.

Beale Air Force Base is one of several Pave PAWS sites that are
scattered around the globe. Others are at Clear Air Force Station,
Alaska; Cape Cod AFS, Mass.; Cavalier AFS, N.D.; Thule Air Base,
Greenland; and Royal Air Force Flyingdales, England.

Together, these stations create the ground-based radar network a
crisscrossed pattern of coverage that monitors the areas surrounding
North America and the United Kingdom.

Each radar station can "see" 3,000 miles across the
Earth's hemisphere and up to 12.000 miles above the Earth. The
radar faces are giant, 10-story structures containing thousands of
arrays and sensors that are continuously sending and receiving data.

This data is fed into a room full of computers, where it is
deciphered and relayed to the radar's command center as easily
readable information.

The radars are designed to search their areas of responsibility for
missiles or launch plumes, but, calibrated the right way, they can track
items much smaller.

"We help track space shuttle launches," Colonel Keppler
said. "And the radars are sensitive enough to see something as
small as a piece of foam falling off the shuttle during its
launch."

Each radar station is also self-sustaining. They have their own
power plants, communications systems and security personnel and are
nuclear hardened, meaning the radars are designed to survive and
maintain operations after a nuclear blast.

"If something like that happened, we would be the eyes and
ears of our defense capabilities," Colonel Keppler said.

The Pave PAWS sites were built during the heart of the Cold War, a
time when nuclear attack was a thought that weighed heavy on many minds.
Even though the Cold War is over, these radars are very important, said
officials at Air Force Space Command.

"There are still real threats out there, "said Col. Jay
Moody, deputy director of Requirements for Headquarters AFSPC at
Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. "China has launched missiles at a
satellite, and other countries are trying to get their feet into the
nuclear arena. It's important we have the capability to know when
and where someone tries to attack us."

Which, by design, is exactly what Pave PAWS will do.

ALL SEEING EYES IN THE SKY

Pave PAWS aren't the only sentinels on duty for missile
warning and defense. A network of satellites orbit the earth and monitor
its atmosphere with unblinking eyes.

These silent sentinels are the AFSPC-operated Defense Support
Program satellites--a key part of North America's early warning
systems. In their 22,300-mile, geosynchronous orbits, DSP satellites
help protect the United States and its allies by detecting missile
launches, space launches and nuclear detonations.

"They are really the workhorses for missile warning,"
said Lt. Col. Michele Edmondson, commander of the 2nd Space Warning
Squadron at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo. "They provide reliable
early warning capabilities to our nation and its defense."

The first DSP satellite launched in the early 1970s. Since then,
this system has provided uninterrupted space-based missile warning
capabilities.

The satellites use an infrared sensor to detect heat from missile
and booster plumes against the earth's background. Over the years,
though, the technology used by the satellites has undergone several
upgrades to keep them current with modern threats.

"Missiles used to be large, easily identifiable objects,"
Colonel Edmondson said. "But now, they keep getting smaller and
smaller and harder to identify."

In 1995, technological advancements were made to the ground
processing systems, enhancing the satellite's detection capability
of smaller missiles and providing improved warning of attack by
short-range missiles against the United States.

A new satellite system, the Space Based Infrared System, or SBIRS,
is also set to be online soon.

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"SBIRS will work alongside and eventually replace DSP,"
Colonel Moody said. "This system will provide the nation with
critical missile defense and warning capabilities well into the 21st
century."

The system will have both improved sensor flexibility and
sensitivity, will cover short-wave infrared, and will have expanded
mid-wave infrared and see-to-the-ground bands, allowing it to perform a
broader set of missions compared to its predecessor, the DSP.

The program is currently in the engineering, manufacturing and
development phase, with the first GEO satellite expected to launch in
2010.

THE HUMAN ELEMENT

As effective and consistent as the U.S.'s missile warning and
defense satellites and radars are, none of them would work without the
Airmen who monitor them on a daily basis.

"It's truly the Airmen who make the whole system
work," Colonel Moody said. "It's their dedication and
professionalism that ensures these satellites and radars do what
they're supposed to, when they're supposed to."

Their human eyes are also needed to aid the electronic ones they
are in charge of.

"The satellites and radars only pick up and warn us of items
in the earth's atmosphere, so the Airmen are the ones who look at
it and say, 'Okay, that's nothing to worry about,' or
'Hey, let's take a look at that,'" Colonel Edmondson
said.

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For the Airmen who work with the satellites and radars, it's a
job they take seriously and are proud to do.

"When I sit back and think about the fact that I'm
contributing to the defense of the country, that makes me feel
proud," Lieutenant Veater said. "Sure, it's easy to say
all I do is push buttons or talk on the phone, but everything we do
helps keep the nation safe. That's a good feeling."